Common Injuries Part 1 - Dressage

With the eventing season getting well under way I thought I would take a look at the three disciplines involved and the common injuries that can come with them. For me as a trainee thermographer this is something I need to be aware of. 

Each discipline puts different stresses on the anatomical structures and can vary depending on the level at which each disciple is being perfomed at.

First of all I'm going to take a high level look at dressage (or otherwise known as stressage). 

Zara Phillips & High Kingdom

Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro - of course!

Dressage is all about the riding and training of a horse in a manner which develops obedience, flexibility and balance. 

Unfortunately due the repetitive nature of dressage, injuries do occur. The degree of injury depends on the level of dressage the horse is competing at too. A horse competing at Preliminary is less likely to sustain the same kind of injury as a horse competing at Prix St Georges as the test requirements are different. 

Common injuries/conditions include:

• Hind Proximal Suspensory Desmitis (PSD) - inflammation of the upper part of the suspensory ligament due to increased weight put onto the hind limbs. PSD usually occurs bilaterally making diagnosis difficult. 
• Muscular soreness - shoulders, back, rump, neck, hamstrings.
• Degenerative joint disesase/arthritus - more susceptible in more advanced levels of dressage due to the extra pressures put on the joints such as the: pasterns, coffin joints, knees, fetlocks and hocks.
• Sacroiliac Pain

"Prevention is better than cure" - Desiderius Erasmus

With the demand of modern performances in dressage, injuries are always going to occur. However, with continuous monitoring of inflammation you will be able to view whether or not your schooling programme is working for both you and your horse. Regular thermography scans will allow you to view any structures - if any - which may be accumulating damage and pro-actively adjust your training program/seek veterinarian advice before a structure completely breaks down. 

Jess x